Tigress
|gender= Female |image= |films= Kung Fu Panda Kung Fu Panda 2 |shorts= Secrets of the Furious Five (young) Kung Fu Panda Holiday |television= Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness |games= Kung Fu Panda: The Game Kung Fu Panda: Legendary Warriors Kung Fu Panda 2: The Game |books= Kung Fu Panda: Art of Balance |voice= (films)IMDB.com - Kung Fu PandaIMDB.com - Kung Fu Panda 2 (young)IMDB.com - Secrets of the Furious Five (video games & TV series)IMDB.com - Kari Wahlgren (growling noises, uncredited) |alias= Master Tigress |appearance= Orange and white fur with black stripes, black claws and bright orange eyes |combat= |fate= Attempted and failed to defeat Tai Lung; accepted Po as the Dragon Warrior (Kung Fu Panda) Helped Po prepare for the Winter Feast (Kung Fu Panda Holiday) Helped Po defeat Lord Shen and his weapon (Kung Fu Panda 2) |quote= "This is what you trained me for." }} Master Tigress is the of the first film and the of the second. She is the adoptive daughter of Shifu as well as the unofficial leader of the Furious Five, mastering over the of Kung Fu. Biography In Secrets of the Furious Five ]] As a child, Tigress was an orphan living in the Bao Gu Orphanage, presumably located in the Valley of Peace. Currently, no one knows about her biological parents or how she ended up in the Bao Gu Orphanage. The residents of the orphanage lived in fear of her due to her violent temper and frightening strength. Unsure of what could be done with the tiger cub, the caretakers of the orphanage put Tigress in a separate room from the other children, and summoned the aid of Master Shifu. Hearing about the trouble at the orphanage, Shifu came to help Tigress. He introduced her to a game of , which required a still and disciplined hand to master. At first, Tigress couldn't place the dominoes correctly, often breaking the fragile wooden tiles in her grip, which frustrated her. But Shifu was a calm and patient teacher, and instructed her for several months to control her temper and her strength, teaching her the importance of discipline. Finally, after months of training, Tigress presented her hard work to the adults and other children of the orphanage by skillfully placing the dominoes correctly with precision and agility; when she finished, she tipped the placed dominoes to form the symbol of , earning the trust and friendship of the caretakers and other orphans. Sadly, even then, the adults who came periodically to adopt new children were still afraid of her, and she was still left at the orphanage. So Shifu took her in as a daughter, giving Tigress a new home and a family. In Kung Fu Panda Even in her new home, however, Tigress still felt unaccepted due to Master Shifu's closed and often stern personality, caused when his former student Tai Lung went on a violent rampage himself after being denied the title of Dragon Warrior. Striving to gain his approval and love, she bettered herself at Kung Fu and became a strong and dedicated student. One of the many ways of training she endured was punching the Iron-wood trees outside the Jade Palace, thus allowing her to feel no pain. Over time, she was joined by four other students: Monkey, Mantis, Crane, and Viper, and the group collectively became known as the Furious Five. Tigress became a Master in the Tiger style of Kung Fu, and as the unofficial leader of the Furious Five, she and her comrades gained great fame across China with their many accomplishments in battle. However, even with all her accomplishments, Tigress still felt the need to prove herself to her Master that she was not a second Tai Lung. Her chance to prove herself came sooner than she expected when one day, Oogway had a vision of the powerful snow leopard breaking out of prison and returning to the Valley. Alarmed, Master Shifu (acting on Oogway's suggestion) announced a tournament to declare who the Dragon Warrior would be out of the Furious Five. On the day of the tournament, each of the Five publicly exhibited their talents one at a time, with Tigress preforming last. Before she had the chance to start, Oogway sensed the presence of the Dragon Warrior, and it was time for the choosing. It appeared that Master Oogway was about to point at her — until a fat panda, Po, seemingly fell out of the sky and landed right in front of Oogway's pointing claw. Confused, Tigress asked if the old tortoise was pointing at her, but Oogway was convinced that Po had been chosen by the universe, and the panda's appearance was not by accident. He proclaimed the panda as the Dragon Warrior — much to Tigress' and Shifu's horror, and as Po was carried off to the Jade Palace, Tigress apologized to Shifu for failing him. The diminutive red panda stopped her, saying that if he hadn't made the panda quit by the next morning, then it was he who failed his students. Through the rest of the day, Shifu did his best to discourage Po and try to make him leave. He tried to intimidate him by showing him the Training Hall and allowing the panda to be humiliated in front of the Five. The derision that Shifu felt was echoed by Tigress herself; she was offended that "a fat, flabby panda" like Po would be chosen over a loyal student like herself, and she made sure that Po knew her opinion of him — going as far as to scathingly tell him that night that he was a disgrace to Kung Fu and that, if he respected the martial arts or the Five at all, he would be gone by morning. To her dismay, Po didn't leave the next morning, and he still wanted to learn Kung Fu. Attempts were made throughout the day to discourage Po and make him quit, but he persevered and made it through the second day — even after sparring with most of the Five and literally being thrown out and tumbling down the steps of the Palace by Shifu. Tigress conceded that Po was there to stay whether she liked it or not and, while he received acupuncture from Mantis and Viper, confided to Po why Shifu acted the way he did by telling Po the story of Tai Lung's betrayal, and in doing so, revealed why she acted as she did towards him. Later on, Po began opening up more to the Five while preparing noodle soup for dinner which, to their delight, was among the most delicious dishes they've ever eaten — save for Tigress, who remained distant and ate tofu instead. The peaceful atmosphere was shattered, however, when Shifu arrived to bring them terrible news: Tai Lung had indeed escaped prison, and to make things worse, Master Oogway had just died. Tigress begged her Master to let the Five and herself stop Tai Lung, stating it was what he had trained them for. Surprisingly, Shifu said that it wasn't her destiny to defeat Tai Lung. He was now convinced that it was Po's job to stop Tai Lung after all, and nothing she could say would change his mind. However, Po had run away in fear of his upcoming challenge, and she secretly followed Shifu when he chased after him to bring him back. There she overheard Po admitting his own lack of confidence, seeing neither he nor her Master had a solution on just how Po could possibly defeat Tai Lung. She decided to try to stop him anyway, immediately setting out on her own. To her surprise, she found that Viper, Mantis, Monkey, and Crane had followed her, and they stated that they wanted to help her in her endeavor. and the Furious Five]] Traveling as fast as they could, it took days to intercept Tai Lung at the Thread of Hope, a network of rope bridges that connected the mountain tops, Tigress finally able to meet her adoptive brother face to face in combat. When asked where the Dragon Warrior was, she tried to imply that she herself was the Dragon Warrior, but Tai Lung was not fooled, which only dealt another blow to her pride. The ensuing battle was made difficult by the rope bridge itself as well as Tai Lung's great strength and skill. Had it not been for her friends, Tigress would had fallen to her death after Tai Lung had managed to overpower her and entangle her in the ropes, effectively strangling her before she accidentally let go. Rescued by the quick-thinking Crane, Tigress switched tactics and worked together with the others, displaying her greatest strength as a team leader/player, and she and her comrades managed to overpower the snow leopard in a stunning show of strength and cunning. At first, they assumed that they had vanquished him completely, but sure enough, Tai Lung reappeared, swinging back from the opposite peak with the ropes from the now-destroyed bridge, and landing behind the startled team. Taking advantage of their unpreparedness, Tai Lung used a technique that Shifu hadn't taught them: chi blocking. Jabbing each of the Five in vital pressure points, he paralyzed them all — with the exception of Crane, whom he left unparalyzed so he could carry the defeated warriors back to the Jade Palace as a warning; he could defeat the strongest warriors in China, so the Dragon Warrior and Shifu would have no hope in stopping him from taking the Dragon Scroll. It was with great shame that Tigress faced Master Shifu and Po when released from the effects of the chi block back at the Jade Palace, feeling that she had failed Shifu. He quietly rebuked her, telling her she could have been killed, but he added that Tai Lung's attempt to strike fear into their hearts wouldn't work: he had been busy training Po while the Five were absent, and he felt that the panda was now ready to receive the Dragon Scroll. Wasting no time, they all assembled in the Palace, where Shifu retrieved the scroll and proceeded to give it to Po. Upon opening it, Po relayed a most surprising bit of information: the legendary scroll, thought to endow the Dragon Warrior with unlimited power, was blank. There was nothing else that could be done; Shifu ordered the Five and Po to evacuate the Valley in a last ditch effort, while he stayed behind to stall Tai Lung as long as possible. He expected to die during the battle, and his parting words to them were the ones that Tigress had always longed to hear from her adoptive father: that he was proud of them and that he was honored to be their master. The dismal feeling that everyone felt as they left had to be pushed aside once they started gathering the villagers. Tigress fell into her role as leader and began to lead the evacuation in spite of her sadness. After leading the populace to the surrounding mountains through the stormy night to morning, she and the Five were stunned as they witnessed a bright wave of light and energy coming from the middle of town. Deciding to go back, they discovered that Po had fought Tai Lung, eventually defeating him with the legendary Wuxi Finger Hold, presumably causing the leopard to be obliterated in an explosion of his own . Amazed, Tigress finally let go of her pride as she approached Po and bowed, honoring him for the first time as a Kung Fu Master and as the Dragon Warrior — and also for the first time, she smiled at him. Tigress realized that she had what she had wanted all along: her Master's approval — and even though she wasn't the one to receive the Dragon Scroll, she didn't need it after all. She had already proven her worth, and that was good enough for her. In Kung Fu Panda Holiday After defeating several boar bandits, Tigress and the other Five were shocked to find out that Po was going to be hosting the Winter Feast dinner at the Jade Palace. Tigress offered her and the rest of the Five's assistance to Po in preparing for the sophisticated event, but Po insisted he could do it himself. When he was later overwhelmed by the many responsibilities, he decided to call on the Furious Five to finally assist him with the preparations. Tigress used Kung Fu to assist with place settings for the feast, performing her "Tahlia Leap" to set up lanterns. When all the tasks had been done, she later sat at the table with all the other Kung Fu Masters for the Palace Winter Feast, but the formal dinner was interrupted by Po himself, who explained to the Masters his own family traditions, and excused himself to be at his home with his father on the holiday. Tigress and the rest of the Five understood Po's decision, recalling common holiday traditions they enjoyed in the past, and they joined Po at the Noodle Shop. Tigress wished Po a "Happy Holiday" and later playfully helped to feed a little toddler piglet. Afterward, Tigress partook in a group portrait of the Furious Five, Po, Mr. Ping, Shifu, and Wo Hop. In Kung Fu Panda 2 , and rest of the Furious Five defending a village]] Tigress resumed her training with Po and the Five when she learned that a village of musicians was under attack by a pack of wolf bandits set on stealing all the metal they could find. She and the Five alerted Po of the matter, and the six set out to the village to fight off the bandits. When Po was temporarily dazed by the sight of an emblem on the Boss Wolf's armor, she attempted to intercept the wolf's hammer blow, but was too late and Po was knocked aside. As the wolves escaped with their loot, the concerned Tigress asked Po what happened to him, but the panda said nothing to her and ran off. 's message]] The next day, Master Shifu informed Po and the Five of Master Thundering Rhino's death at the hands of Lord Shen, and tasked them with traveling to Gongmen City to destroy the weapon responsible: a cannon that utilized the explosive powder used in Gongmen's famous fireworks. Before setting off, Tigress saw that Po's father, Mr. Ping, was troubled to see his son leave, and tried to comfort him before she left with the others. On the last night of their journey, Tigress was awoken when Po suffered a nightmare. Concerned, Tigress followed him outside and helped him relieve his frustrations by sparring with him. Tigress told him about her harsh training exercises in her youth, and how her "hardcore" style allowed her to ignore pain. Po revealed that he had learned that Mr. Ping was his adoptive father, though Tigress was hardly surprised as it was biologically impossible for a goose to father a panda. When Po commented on learning how to become "hardcore" like Tigress to ignore his emotional pain, Tigress was taken aback, though she didn't have time to contradict him before arriving at Gongmen City. Tigress and the others sneaked into the city and evaded more of Shen's wolves when they found Masters Storming Ox and Croc in Gongmen Jail. After unsuccessfully trying to convince them to escape and aid them in their mission, they were discovered by the Boss Wolf and attempted to intercept him before he could alert Shen. Although Tigress was able to help Po catch up to him, they were quickly captured and brought before Shen himself in his tower. Viper managed to pick the lock on Tigress' cuffs, and after freeing the others, she helped them destroy the cannon. She was surprised, however, when she saw Po once again dazed by the pattern of Shen's feathered tail, allowing the peacock to escape. Now under assault from the rest of Shen's cannons, she reached the bottom of the tower and quickly scouted the area outside, deftly defending herself and her friends from a hail of fire arrows from the wolves. Deducing an escape route, Tigress led the others to safety by scaling the outside of the falling tower and springing off it over the wall bordering the palace grounds. Returning to the jail to hide, she confronted Po over to why he let Shen escape. When he refused to answer, she ordered him to stay in the company of Ox and Croc. Po was adamant upon going with them however, leading the two to spar once more. Tigress swiftly subdued Po, again demanding to know the truth; Po finally admitted that he remembered that Shen was present the night his biological parents abandoned him, and he needed Shen to tell him what happened, commenting that she wouldn't understand. Tigress lunged at Po, supposedly infuriated by his remark, but to the surprise of everyone else, she hugged him and told him that she did understand. Nevertheless, she gently told Po to stay behind, as she didn't want to see him be killed. Tigress and the rest of the Five made their way over to Shen's refinery where they intended to use ignite powder kegs around the factory to destroy it. Much to her shock, she saw that Po had disobeyed her and was confronting Shen alone. She and the others quickly doused the fires and she attempted to make her way towards the two, fending off Shen's elite soldiers. Unable to reach him, she watched in horror as Po was blasted out of the factory and into the river by Shen's largest cannon. The Five were subsequently captured, fearing that the worst had happened to Po. The Five were strung up securely to the flagship of Shen's veritable armada of cannon-armed ships as they began their traverse down the river to the harbor. Shen bragged about how he would kill them upon reaching the harbor; Tigress snarled back, but was unable to resist in any way, and was further disgusted by Shen's lack of concern for the well-being of the bystanders witnessing the event by blasting away a bridge to clear a path. She was perhaps the most astonished, then, when Po revealed himself to be alive and rescued the Five. She and the others managed to fight their way along Shen's fleet with the assistance of Croc and Ox, freed by Shifu, who had also joined them. The nine kung fu masters proceeded to destroy much of the fleet, blocking the way to the harbor with their own boats. Shen fired his cannon at Po, but Tigress managed to knock him aside and was blown into the river along with the other masters. Wounded and floating on a piece of driftwood, Tigress watched helplessly as Po stood upon the wreckage of an overturned boat, facing the remaining cannons on his own. As the first shot was fired, she, along with every other witness, was astounded when Po deflected the projectile and every other one that Shen ordered fired, even going so far as to knock some back at the fleet. After the flagship's destruction, she witnessed Po's final battle with Shen, and the lord's defeat at the hands of his own work. After the battle, she helped Po out of the water and onto a dock, commenting his work as "pretty hardcore." She was surprised once more when Po hugged her in a manner similar to how she did in the prison — so much so that she didn't have time to react before he was enthusiastically greeted by the rest of the Five. Along with the rest of Gongmen City, she watched as the burning remains of Shen's flagship set off a fireworks display, bringing an end to their adventure. Personality Master Tigress is the strongest and boldest of the Furious Five. She is noted to have the typical qualities of a hero: overachieving, brave, fearless, and willing to do anything to save the day. The one exception to her willingness, however, was believe in Po, whom she thought was a joke. But even the strongest can be wrong, and Tigress learned that destiny sometimes arrives in unexpected ways. Since the events of the first film, she has been unwaveringly loyal to Po and what he represents as the Dragon Warrior. But underneath her stoic, iron-jawed exterior is a warm compassion that others seldom see.Kung Fu Panda Official Site - Master Tigress She is generally friendly, but the least sociable of the Five. In many scenes of the first film in which the other four of the Furious Five and/or Po were joking or having fun, Tigress would often remain quiet and withdrawn. At the time, it was strongly believed, by Shifu and herself, that Oogway was about to choose her as the Dragon Warrior before Po's entrance, despite Oogway's statements. As a result, Tigress bitterly resented Po for thwarting her dream, and was the most vocal of the Five in her contempt for the panda and his perceived lack of respect for Kung Fu, even while her comrades grew to respect him, perhaps still believing she was the Dragon Warrior. When she was a young cub, Tigress had trouble controlling her violent temper. Master Shifu had helped teach her how to control this temper since then, but she still occasionally loses control. This is shown during the first film while she was telling Po about Shifu's past with Tai Lung and herself. She had mistaken Po's sudden facial expression into thinking that he was making fun of her. She reacted by pulling back her paw, having every intention on scratching him. Mantis stopped her before she could do so, confessing that he accidentally hit his facial nerve with one of his acupuncture needles, to which she pulls back. However, despite all natural sides of Tigress, she does possess a "soft side", particularly towards children in some instances. This is shown near the end of the first film where she politely helped some young villagers evacuate the Valley, and in Kung Fu Panda Holiday, where Tigress playfully helped to feed a young toddler piglet during the Winter Feast. Tigress appears to have sustained a more calm and content attitude since the events of the first film, and in the holiday special she is seen to behave in a kinder and friendlier way, as demonstrated when she and rest of the Five help Po with his difficulties in preparing for the Winter Feast. Fighting Style The traditional Tiger fighting style is powerful, strong, firm, and aggressive — and adding a bit of -like acrobatic flair to the mix, Tigress is a warrior to be feared and admired. She strikes directly without hesitation, utilizing speed, agility and power to shatter opponents' defenses. Like the traditional tiger fighter, Tigress stays close to the ground; she is agile, acrobatic and elegant, fighting honorably and never using her claws, unlike Tai Lung.Kung Fu Panda Official Site - Master Tigress She occasionally may show them to intimidate foes, but never uses them lethally. In her past twenty years of dedicated training, Tigress has enhanced these skills enough to enable herself into learning new techniques and abilities. One of Tigress' famous moves, for example, is the "Tahlia Leap", which she uses against Tai Lung in the first film and in Kung Fu Panda Holiday to help Po with place settings for the formal Winter Feast dinner. Similarly, she is also able to accurately catch and hold them without burning herself. She also continues to build her strength, possessing enough at one point to be able to catch and hold Po in midair with ease, despite the panda's weight. Tigress also mentions in Kung Fu Panda 2 how she used to punch the trees by the Palace to train, and now "feels nothing." This kind of severe training enables Tigress to possess a high trait of physical endurance and tolerance to pain, unable to feel some varieties of physical pain in her paws. Relationships Master Shifu When Tigress was very young, she was adopted by Shifu. As her new fatherly figure, and possibly the only person unafraid of her and who hadn't regarded her as a monster, she was always eager to please him. But Shifu's stern and bitter personality disheartened her, always making her feel like her efforts weren't enough. She worked hard at her Kung Fu training to make him proud, and perhaps wished to become the Dragon Warrior herself as a means to do so. Though she failed in achieving the title, and in defeating Tai Lung, Shifu declared he was proud of all his students, including Tigress, before parting with them on what they thought would be their last meeting. Tigress obeyed his orders to evacuate the Valley without question, even in knowing her Master and adoptive father would likely lose his life. At the end of the first film, however, Shifu finally accepted her after he had attained inner peace due to Po's efforts of defeating Tai Lung, and a scene during the end credits showed Tigress at the kitchen table with a noodle dangling from her mouth, imitating Shifu in the similar way Po did in the first film, and the red panda is seen to be laughing at the display. Po In the sequel, Tigress has come to accept Po as a friend and fellow warrior, and showed a more light-hearted attitude towards him. This was seen when Po stuffed forty bean buns in his mouth, and Tigress encouraged him rather than regarded him with disgust, as she would have in the first film. Furthermore, when Po's boast in battle was undermined by an embarrassingly loud stomach rumble, Tigress smiled understandingly at her comrade's attempt to compensate. Tigress showed other signs of warmth and loyalty towards Po, going as far as to push him out of firing range of one of Lord Shen's cannons, which almost got her killed as a result. Though she demonstrated her strict determination by ordering (and eventually fighting) Po to stay behind in the prison after he had allowed Shen to escape, she also showed compassion towards him about the discovery of his parentage, surprising him and the rest of the Five when she hugged him instead of lunging at him, and saying she did understand Po's troubles, but wouldn't let her friend be killed, showing him that she wasn't quite as unfeeling and "hardcore" as Po thought she was. Near the end of the movie, after Shen was defeated, Po also hugged Tigress after she complimented his heroic actions as "pretty hardcore". Tigress was shocked and didn't hug back, but she watched the fireworks with Po and others with a smile on her face, showing that she wasn't angry by Po's attempt to come spiritually close to her. The Furious Five As a member of the Five, Tigress is a close friend to them all. This friendship paid off when the Five battled Tai Lung in the first film. At first, she thought that she could beat Tai Lung alone, but however, almost lost her life. Her teammates realized that she was in distress, and rushed to her aid. Her fellow masters understand her strength and power and revere her as their unofficial leader, as mainly shown in the second film when they were trying to rescue Po in the fireworks factory, her friends told her to get to Po while they took out the remaning wolf guards. While they occasionally show respect to Tigress, they also have shown their fear of her, often avoiding the risk of pushing her temper. For example, Mantis slowly crawled away when Tigress began walking into Po's room when Po was telling them about his knowleague of Tai Lung. Also, in the second film, when Tigress' powerful glare stopped Po in his tracks as he was about to protest in being left behind in the hunt for Shen, the rest of the Five watched in stunned fear, Monkey even covered his mouth. Tigress' ability to be easily provoked is well known amongst her friends. Po is the only one who seems to still not understand it fully. Clothing/Outfit Master Tigress' outfit consists of basic clothing most students would wear to practice the art of Kung Fu in. Unlike the other Furious Five, however, Tigress is the only member to wear a shirt: a traditional red Chinese vest with golden vine patterns held together with small metal fasteners and a wasit wrap. She also wears black silk pants as well as open-toed shoes. In Kung Fu Panda Holiday (during the Winter Feast dinner at the Jade Palace and later at the noodle shop), Tigress and the other members of the Furious Five each wear an outfit similar to their normal attire, but with colors that match the colors of the holiday. Tigress wears a silver vest with red vine patterns and a red Shaolin waist wrap. Tigress also briefly wears a hat similar to some of the other masters at the table during the Palace dinner. Trivia General *It is suspected that Tigress was seven years old when Shifu taught her to control her strength in Secrets of the Furious Five (which took place roughly twenty years before the first film), indicating that she might be between twenty-seven or thirty years old. *According to the filmmakers' commentary on the Kung Fu Panda DVD, Tigress is Po's favorite of the Furious Five despite the fact that she shows considerable disrespect and disgust at him throughout most of the first film. *The chunk of wood that Po picks up as a souvenir of Tigress' 'awesomness' was deemed "the love chunk" by the Layout Department. *The movie prequel comic Art of Balance lists Tigress as currently having no weaknesses.Anderson, Matt and Various. Kung Fu Panda: Art of Balance. : *Tigress' favorite food has been noted to be .Noll, Katherine. Kung Fu Panda 2: Po & Ping's Recipe Storybook, p. 27. : In development *For designing Tigress, the filmmakers resolved to keep her body more like that of a tiger's, and made a conscious effort to not make Tigress appear (humanly) feminine, instead using her facial fur to resemble makeup.Miller-Zarneke, Tracey. The Art of Kung Fu Panda, p. 58. : In popular culture *In the first episode of , Tigress was mentioned as a context clue for " ". The answer was , her voice actress. Gallery Tigress-concept-art.png|Early Tigress concept art by Rodolphe Guenoden and Richard Daskas tigress-character art.jpg|Concept illustration of Tigress by Nicolas Marlet Tigress1.jpg Tigress-yin-yang.png|Young Tigress creating the " " symbol with Shifu's wooden tiles KFP2Tigress.jpg|Tigress sparring with Po in Kung Fu Panda 2 TigressAngelinaKFP2.jpg|Tigress and her voice actress, (View more...) 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